Quick Facts
Date: June 7, 1967
Site: The Queen Elizabeth Hotel
Host City: Montreal
Draft History
The fifth NHL Amateur Draft was the first to include NHL expansion teams. These teams were allowed to draft ahead of the Original Six. In addition, a player's draft eligibility age was raised from age 18 to 20, which would become the league's standard draft age -- and the subject of much contention -- for the next 11 years until it eventually returned to 18. The draft also marked the first that time a U.S. citizen and the first time a U.S. college hockey player was chosen. After the draft, the NHL allowed the expansion teams to select overage juniors already on the Original Six teams' sponsorship lists. Like the main expansion draft, however, the special draft of young players was an intraleague draft rather than an amateur or entry draft for players whose professional rights had not yet been claimed.
The Basics
| Eligible For Draft: | All amateur players not on sponsorship lists who were born before June 1, 1947. |
| Draft Order: | Order set by league with six expansion teams drafting first, according to results of a lottery. Draft positions 7-12 were based on the rotation already established in previous years' drafts with the team that picked No. 1 in 1966 dropping to No. 12 and all others moving up one draft position. |
| Irregularities: | St. Louis claimed an ineligible player with its first-round pick and passed in all subsequent rounds. Toronto passed on the first round but drafted a player in the second. Los Angeles, Chicago, Montreal and Boston passed on the second round, and all teams but California passed on the third. All teams passed on the fourth round, ending the draft after California's third-round pick. Montreal had an option to take the first two French-Canadian players before start of draft in place of its first- and second-round picks but chose not to exercise option. |
| Rotation: | Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, (St. Louis), California, Minnesota, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, Boston |
| Total Rounds: | Three |
| Cost to Draft: | Amateur teams were paid $3,000 per drafted player. |
| Draft Rights: | Team could offer player contract at any time after draft. |
Draft Recap
| No. 1 pick: | Rick Pagnutti (by Los Angeles) |
| Reached NHL: | Three players (16.7 percent) |
| Won Stanley Cup: | No players (0 percent) |
| Most NHL Games: | J. Bob Kelly (425 games) |
| Most Playoff Games: | J. Bob Kelly (23 games) |
| Highest Pick to Miss: | No. 1 (Rick Pagnutti) |
| Lowest Pick to Reach: | No. 17 (Al Karlander) |
| Players Drafted: | 18 (11 forwards, 6 defense, 1 goalie) |
| SNAPSHOT '67 | |
| Total Selected: | 18 |
| Forwards: | 11 |
| Defense: | 6 |
| Goaltenders: | 1 |
| Major Junior: | 2 |
| College Players: | 1 |
| Canadian: | 17 |
| USA Citizens: | 1 |
| U.S.-Born: | 0 |
| European: | 0 |
| Reached NHL: | 3 |
| Won Stanley Cup: | 0 |
| Hall of Fame: | 0 |
| All-Star Game: | 0 |
| Year-end All-Star: | 0 |
| Olympians: | 0 |
| Picks Traded: | 0 |